Canadian cannabis stocks tumbled Thursday, but Aphria clawed back losses from earlier this week

Embattled Canadian marijuana producer Aphria Inc. saw its U.S.-listed shares rebound Thursday, after the company issued a rebuttal to a series of accusations leveled by a short seller even as new allegations were posted.

By the start of trading Thursday, Aphria (APHA.T) (APHA.T) stock had lost roughly half its value -- U.S. exchanges were closed Wednesday, but the Toronto Stock Exchange, or TSX, where Aphria is also listed, remained open -- but shares on the New York Stock Exchange closed up 23% Thursday.

Hindenburg's report prompted GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry to place Aphria's rating and price target under review. "We believe that management's credibility may have been impacted by the allegations raised in this report," Landry wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "It is unclear at this point how the company will re-establish trust with investors. Hence, until we have more visibility on the action plan of Aphria's board of directors, we will put our rating and target under review." Previously, Landry had a $22 price target and rated the stock a buy.

Hindenburg's Thursday update focused on the Aphria-backed Liberty Health Science, which trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker LHS (https://thecse.com/en/listings/life-sciences/liberty-health-sciences-inc). Hindenburg said that its research into Liberty uncovered "multiple irregularities that raise more questions around believed undisclosed insider self-dealing." Liberty shares closed up 15% to C94 cents Thursday.

Aphria suffered from another issue this week: a Health Canada inspection in June 2018 revealed that one of the company's facilities was not compliant with guidelines around record-keeping, good production practices, and sanitation and maintenance of the facility, according to the agency. Health Canada issued a warning letter -- but did not suspend Aphria's license -- and the company took action to bring it into compliance.

Many of the sector's largest companies slid in Thursday trading. Tilray Inc. fell 1.3%, GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (GWPH) dropped 3.4%, Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.T) (WEED.T) fell 3.5% and Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.T)(ACB.T) dropped 2.2%. Aurora announced Thursday that it had inked a deal with the Luxembourg Health Ministry to supply medical marijuana to the country; Luxembourg has received an initial 20-kilogram shipment, the company said.

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